Batrachedra pinicolella [Lepidoptera: Batrachedridae] in Leaf and stem mines of British flies and other insects

The leaf and stem mines of British flies and other insects

(Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera)

by Brian Pitkin, Willem Ellis, Colin Plant and Rob Edmunds

Batrachedra pinicolella (Zeller, 1839)
[Lepidoptera: Batrachedridae]

Pine Cosmet

Cosmopteryx pinicolella Zeller, 1839. Isis 32: 210
Batrachedra pinicolella (Zeller, 1839).

Leaf-miner and case-bearer: The larva lives in a silken tube, covered with fragments of bark and lichen on the bark of the older part of a branch. From this tube the larva mines the basal half of a number of leaves. The larva moults in the tube, and pupates in a side branch of it. (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Larva: The larvae of moths have a head capsule and chewing mouthparts with opposable mandibles (see video of a gracillarid larva feeding), six thoracic legs and abdominal legs (see examples).Mining larva yellow brown with black head and pronotum and exceptionally long setae (Patocka, 1960a) (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Pupa: The pupae of moths have visible head appendages, wings and legs which lie in sheaths (see examples).

The larva moults in the tube, and pupates in a side branch of it (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Adult: The adult is illustrated in UKMoths by Andrew Mitchell. The species is included in mothdissection.co.uk.

Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:

Pinaceae
Picea	abies	Norway Spruce		Pitkin & Plant

Hosts elsewhere:

Pinaceae
Abies			Bladmineerders van Europa
Picea	abies	Norway Spruce	Belgian Lepidoptera
Picea	abies	Norway Spruce	Bladmineerders van Europa
Pinus			Bladmineerders van Europa
Pinus	sylvestris		Belgian Lepidoptera

Time of year - larvae: September - May (Bladmineerders van Europa).

Time of year - adults: Currently unknown.

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland: Widespread in Britain including Bedfordshire, Dorset, Durham, East Kent, East Suffolk, Herefordshire, Huntingdonshire, Isle of Wight, North Essex, North Hampshire, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, South Devon, South Hampshire, Stafford, West Kent, West Norfolk, West Suffolk, West Sussex and Worcestershire (NBN Atlas).

Distribution elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria, Belarus, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia, Finland, French mainland, Germany, Hungary, Italian mainland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norwegian mainland, Poland, Romania, Russia - Central, East and Northwest, Slovakia, Spanish mainland, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Ukraine (Fauna Europaea).

NBN Atlas links to known host species:

Picea abies

British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:

Ichneumonoidea - Links to species no longer available
Diadegma elishae (Bridgman, 1884)	Ichneumonidae: Campopleginae


External links:	Search the internet:
Belgian Lepidoptera Biodiversity Heritage Library Bladmineerders van Europa British leafminers Encyclopedia of Life Fauna Europaea NBN Atlas NHM UK Checklist UKMoths	Find using Google Find using Google Scholar Find images using Google


	Last updated 13-Jul-2019 Brian Pitkin